William Davis Primary School

Inspection of William Davis Primary School Wood Close, Cheshire Street, London E2 6ET

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Outstanding Previous inspection grade Good 11 and 12 March 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a warm and welcoming school. Pupils enjoy attending and feel safe. Pupils benefit from positive relationships with staff. They know there is a trusted adult they can talk to who will help them if they have any worries.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are a delight to talk to. They are polite, friendly, and respectful to each other and to staff. In classrooms, they are focused on their learning and listen carefully. In the playground, pupils play together happily.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high ambitions for all pupils. It provides a challenging and carefully structured curriculum. Pupils’ excellent behaviour and attitudes to learning combine with this to help them to achieve strongly by the time they leave the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides pupils with many wider development opportunities. This includes after-school clubs such as multi-sport events, arts and crafts and sewing. Pupils take on responsibilities in the school’s community, which encourage positive working relationships. For example, older pupils regularly read with their younger peers. The school encourages pupils to value and respect everyone in the school’s community and those with different cultures and beliefs. Pupils can talk about the various places of worship they have visited and understand the importance of treating all people equally.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils get off to a fantastic start in the school in the early years. Staff provide a wide range of interesting activities to ensure children learn effectively. Children are encouraged to explore their thoughts and ideas using rich language, which helps further develop their knowledge and understanding.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Reading is a focus from the moment children enter the school. Staff teach the chosen phonics scheme effectively. In Reception, children quickly develop an understanding of sounds and start to blend these to form words. As they move through the school, pupils confidently read books matched to those sounds and can discuss events and characters’ actions. Staff carefully check pupils’ progress and, if any fall behind, provide timely support to help them catch up. The school develops a love of reading. For example, pupils create a page in the class ‘reading scrapbook’ about a favourite book, which they share with the other pupils.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school regularly reviews its curriculum to ensure it meets the needs of all pupils. The school has carefully identified the knowledge, and skills pupils should learn over time from the early years to Year 6. Learning is sequenced to enable children to build on their previous knowledge. For example, in Reception, children learn how a whole number can be divided into different parts. By Year 3, pupils can calculate which fraction is bigger than the other.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school identifies pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) as quickly as possible. Leaders ensure that pupils with SEND can access the curriculum 11 and 12 March 2025

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appropriately. Staff are supported to identify and cater for pupils’ learning needs, which includes accessing support from specialist agencies. Pupils with SEND learn and make strong progress across the curriculum.

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In most subjects, teachers carefully check what pupils have learned so that they can build on that learning to develop pupils’ knowledge and skills further. However, in some subjects, staff do not precisely check what pupils learn and remember. This means staff do not understand what pupils know. In these instances, pupils do not consistently develop the same depth of knowledge and understanding as they do in other subjects.

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Pupils’ behaviour across the school is impeccable. Pupils know and follow the school’s expectations well. The school wants pupils to work hard but also be resilient. One pupil expressed it as ‘it encourages us to try our best and not be afraid of failing.’ Pupils appreciate the rewards they are given for good attendance, including class certificates in a weekly celebration assembly.

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Pupils enjoy many enriching experiences in the school. Visitors such as opera singers and poets enhance the learning. Pupils participate in special projects, for example working with a nearby museum to help design the museum’s outdoor space. The school prepares pupils well for their future lives. It teaches them the importance of good physical and mental health. Pupils understand what constitutes a healthy relationship and how to stay safe online.

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Staff appreciate the support they receive from leaders to develop professionally and to manage their workload and well-being. Governors know their statutory responsibilities and carry these out effectively. They are ready to challenge school leaders to ensure the school continues to improve. Parents and carers praise the supportive staff and nurturing environment.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Recent improvements to the way assessment is used across different subjects are not fully embedded. Teaching does not consistently check that pupils are learning the intended curriculum, meaning misconceptions sometimes go unaddressed. The school should ensure that assessment is used consistently well across the curriculum to identify any errors or misconceptions in pupils’ learning.

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find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 11 and 12 March 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22 October 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision for its pupils.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff, and pupils; considered the 11 and 12 March 2025

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extent to which the school has created and open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work  The inspectors also spoke with groups of staff and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work in other subjects.  The inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys completed by parents, pupils, and staff.  The inspectors spoke with the headteacher, senior leaders and subject leaders. They also held meetings with the members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors looked at a sample of the school’s policies and records, including those

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related to behaviour, attendance, and pupils’ wider development.

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Inspection team

Eleanor Ross, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Tom Hart Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 March 2025

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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